Freaknik, the 90s spring break festival, is back in operation after the Hulu documentary began to circulate online. Fans of the full-fledged music festival that lost its allure over time were reminded of it by the docuseries, which offers insights into the biggest cultural movement of its time.
What Is Freaknik?
It only makes sense to comprehend the definition of the word “Freaknik” before discussing this bizarre festival. The terms “freak” and “picnic” are combined to form the name of this festival from the 1980s, which was formerly known as Freaknic.
The festival had a reputation for being jam-packed with dancing, athletics, and music in the 1980s and 1990s. The event was initially developed by a club at Spelman College and is primarily attended by students of historically black colleges. In this festival, the word “freak” primarily referred to sexual promiscuity.
From 1983 through 1999, the festival was centred around dance concerts, rap sessions, film festivals, and concerts. Then, however, it was abandoned in 1999. However once more, the festival became known as a “family-friendly” event in 2019. Finally, the festival was changed to a three-day event that concentrated on some of the up-and-coming performers.
A gathering place for black students who couldn’t afford to go home for spring break quickly opened to the general public as participants from the US, the Caribbean, and Europe arrived.
People from the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe gathered to participate in the event after it was made public. Compared to the 80,000 attendees the year before, 300,000 people attended Freaknic in 1990, many of whom had no intention of going. Up to 350,000 individuals showed up in 1991.
Why Was Freaknik Shut Down?
Freaknik began as an annual spring break celebration in Atlanta, Georgia. Students who couldn’t go home for spring break organised a simple picnic in a public park, which quickly turned into a full-fledged music festival.
The festival developed into a refuge for celebrations, alcohol, music, and everything outrageous. While there wasn’t the same level of security in the 1980s and 1990s as there is now, drugs and alcohol contributed to many facades. The festival became a hotspot for sexual assault as it grew in popularity.
Some women said that during the frenzy, they were the victims of rape and abuse. In the 1990s, the Atlanta Committee for Black College Spring Break and law enforcement officials made the decision to stop the celebration. George Hawthorne, the committee’s chairman at the time, said:
“We cannot support events that promote vulgar behaviour, sexual assaults, violence against women, and public safety issues, such as firetrucks being unable to reach victims and ambulances being unable to get to hospitals in a timely manner,” the statement reads.
Officials from Atlanta stated: “There are no allowed Freaknic-related events inside the city borders” in April 2010. Kasim Reed, the mayor of Atlanta, added that “he will be stern and even sue any Freaknic-related event organisers who break the law.” As regulations tightened, the celebration quickly waned.
Nonetheless, the final official Freaknik is claimed to have occurred in 1999, ending a 20-year hiatus. In addition, a new Freaknik event featuring hip-hop and R&B artists was held in June 2019. Other activities, such as community service programmes held all across Atlanta, were also promoted by the authorities.
The first “Freak World” event was held at Morris Brown College in downtown Atlanta from 19–21 June 2020. The Greek Plaza, which can house roughly 15,000 people, and the refurbished gym next door will both host performances by the 40–50 musical artists that organiser Carlos Neal plans to hire, according to Neal, who overhauled the festival in 2019.
Freaknik Remained Alive In Popular Culture…
Even when Freaknik was no longer operating, the entertainment industry continued to parody the festival in movies and television series. Freaknik: The Musical, an hour-long parody show, aired on Adult Swim in 2010.
You might remember Mary Cherry’s line from the television programme ‘Popular’: ‘I went to Freaknik in Atlanta and turned the mother out’. When questioned about her spring break activities, she answered that. “True Lifefirst “‘s season also featured the 1998 Freaknik. Moreover, a number of rap songs have made reference to the festival.
The documentary “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told,” which Hulu is developing, offers insights into the undiscovered stories and scenes from the insane festival, in case you still managed to miss everything above.
On its official Instagram page, Freaknik Fest also posted a video discussing the excitement for a forthcoming Hulu documentary. The documentary is definitely worth watching because it features comments from a former Freaknik attendee and some previously unheard-of moments.
There isn’t a press release or trailer for “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told,” thus it’s unclear when it will be released. The intended release date for the documentary is 2023, likely in mid-April.
It’s interesting that this would be the Freaknik’s 40th anniversary. We hope that this documentary will pave the way for another full-fledged iteration of this festival. We’d love for you to share your memories of the festival in the comment section if you freaked there in 1994 and are reading this story.
